Chapter Summaries

The Matchmaker God and Meng Po celebrated their long-awaited wedding in the Netherworld, but the Northern Pole Exorcism Office shattered the boundary and invaded before they could enter the bridal chamber. Lu Chen welcomed the arriving army while the Ten Kings of Yama watched, and King Yama privately worried about the calamity Lu Chen had provoked.

• Meng Po and the Matchmaker God exchanged wedding vows at Meng Po Pavilion, with Boil Uncle and Sending Sister celebrating alongside them.
• The Northern Pole Exorcism Office tore through the barrier between yin and yang, and Li City God told the newlyweds to remain inside the pavilion.
• Lu Chen watched the heavenly army pour into the Netherworld and declared that he had been waiting for them.
• The Ten Kings of Yama left Yama Hall and saw Tianyou Deputy Marshal and Black Baleful General lead the Northern Pole Exorcism Office into the Netherworld.
• King Yama privately reflected that Lu Chen had stirred up a heavenly calamity, while King Qin Guang grew suspicious that he knew what was happening.

The Ten Yama Kings watched the Northern Pole Exorcism Office descend into the Netherworld, while the Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed their wager on Registrar Lu. As Lu Chen’s allies blocked the Heavenly Court’s forces, Yin Marshal arrived to confront General Black Fiend.

• King Qin Guang and Yama King argued over the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s arrival, while King Chu Jiang questioned whether Yama King knew more than he admitted.
• The Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed Registrar Lu’s unusual fortune and agreed to watch whether he emerged safely from the coming conflict.
• The Northern Pole Exorcism Office declared that it would seize the Matchmaker God and Meng Po, but Lu Chen ordered the attack blocked and heavenly fire destroyed its two divine bolts.
• Marshal Yang invoked the Grand Tai Sui Evil-Quelling Rite, and he and Deputy Marshal Tianyou argued over whether the rite justified obstructing the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Yin Marshal arrived beneath the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court’s archway and challenged General Black Fiend for belittling his court.

Yin Marshal blocked Tianyou Deputy Marshal from arresting the Matchmaker God until the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court completed its duties, and fought back when the Northern Pole Exorcism Office challenged him. The Netherworld Sovereign and the Five Ghost Emperors then appeared, bringing the confrontation to a halt.

• Yin Marshal told Tianyou Deputy Marshal that he could arrest the Matchmaker God and Meng Po only after the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court finished its evil-quelling duties.
• The Matchmaker God and Meng Po entered the bridal chamber while the Jade Emperor’s Thorn Heavenly Edict continued to torment him.
• When Heavenly Chief Star accused Yin Marshal of defying heavenly authority, Yin Marshal trapped him in a Star-Domain Field until Tianyou Deputy Marshal broke it and freed him.
• Tianyou Deputy Marshal asked the Netherworld Sovereign whether he would also prevent the arrest, and a vast phantom of the Sovereign appeared over the Yin Sky.
• The Five Ghost Emperors appeared beside the Sovereign as the Netherworld’s ghosts and Ten Kings of Hell knelt.

Great Emperor Fengdu refused to intervene in the dispute between the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court, but opened the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore as a place for them to fight. The two forces entered and clashed, leaving King Qin Guang wondering what influence Lu’s mortal ally held over the Supreme One.

• Great Emperor Fengdu admitted his failure to supervise Matchmaker God but said he could not interfere between the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Evil-Quelling Grand Rite.
• Great Emperor Fengdu tore open the Yin Heaven and revealed the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, inviting the two sides to fight there rather than damage the Netherworld.
• Yin Marshal challenged Deputy Marshal Tianyou to either fight or wait until the rite was finished, and Deputy Marshal Tianyou accepted a battle to decide which side would withdraw.
• The Heaven-Connecting Other Shore swept both forces inside, where Yin Marshal struck the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s formation with his battle-axe and Marshal Tianyou blocked the blow.
• The battle’s shockwaves shook Fengdu City, while King Qin Guang questioned why the Supreme One had exposed the Netherworld and wondered who the brat was.

Great Emperor Fengdu opened the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore and welcomed the Heavenly Court’s attention, allowing more than a hundred great powers’ divine senses to descend as Yin Marshal battled Tianyou Deputy Marshal. Lu Chen was crushed beneath their overwhelming pressure as he watched the heavens lower their gaze upon the Netherworld.

• Zhang Heng questioned Great Emperor Fengdu about the Heavenly Court noticing the Other Shore, but Fengdu welcomed the scrutiny and decided to help make the commotion bigger.
• The Other Shore’s opening spread Yin clouds and lightning across the Heavenly Court, and lesser immortals fled after more than a hundred powerful divine senses pierced the barrier.
• Yin Marshal nearly shattered Tianyou Deputy Marshal’s golden formation with a single axe strike and mocked him when he claimed he would stop showing mercy.
• More than a hundred Heavenly Court great powers sent projections of divine sense into the Other Shore, making both armies stiffen in surprise.
• Lu Chen was pinned beneath the divine pressure and watched the great powers descend, thinking, “The heavens lower their gaze” and “Hundred Lords Observe the Netherworld!!!!!”

Lu Chen watched the Heavenly Court’s great powers descend as Yin Marshal and Tianyou Deputy Marshal clashed in the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, while Marshal Yang confronted Black Baleful General elsewhere. The battles escalated before the assembled observers, and Lu Chen was inspired to pursue the path of Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood.

• Great Emperor Fengdu concealed Lu Chen’s identity from most of the descended powers, and Lu Chen stayed to watch the conflict unfold.
• Yin Marshal accused Tianyou Deputy Marshal of obstructing the Evil-Quelling rite, and Tianyou Deputy Marshal refused to back down under the Great Heavenly Venerable’s decree.
• Yin Marshal manifested the Twelve Earthly Branches and fought Tianyou Deputy Marshal, who wielded four magical treasures and summoned eighteen thunder generals.
• As the battle shook the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, Lu Chen watched the marshals’ power and thought that Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood might lead him to success.
• Marshal Yang confronted Black Baleful General and engulfed him in five-colored divine flames from the Five-Fire Treasure Fan.

Marshal Yang broke through the Black Baleful General’s Nether Capital Battle Domain with his Radiance of Time, but the two powers became locked in a stalemate. Meanwhile, the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s 108 generals faced the 59 Jiazi Grand Marshals, and both sides challenged each other over their authority and conduct.

• The Black Baleful General expanded his Nether Capital Battle Domain and swallowed the Five-Colored Divine Flames, but Marshal Yang attacked it with the power of his four divine eyes.
• The Black Baleful General’s wheel repaired the domain and resisted Marshal Yang’s golden light, but Marshal Yang’s Radiance of Time pierced through and began destroying it.
• The Black Baleful General used the wheel to draw in the River of Forgetfulness and slow Marshal Yang’s Radiance of Time, leaving the two Star Lords’ powers in a stalemate.
• The 108 generals of the Northern Pole Exorcism Office confronted the 59 Jiazi Grand Marshals, and the Heavenly Chief Star challenged them to fight.
• Dingmao, Jisi, and Guixi Grand Marshals invoked their authority and accused the Northern Pole generals of violating the Earth Division’s grand sacrifice, prompting both sides to trade threats.

The Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Fiends clashed with the fifty-nine Jiazi Grand Marshals in a fierce battle across the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore. After the Tai Sui shattered the enemy’s first assault with a time-manipulating sundial, Heavenly Chief Star prepared to use the Seven Absolutes Grand Formation to break their divine art.

• Heavenly Chief Star used the thirty-six Heavenly Dippers’ stellar net against the fifty-nine Tai Sui’s Jiazi Year Formation, and their collision shook the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore.
• Yin Marshal and Tianyou Deputy Marshal exchanged divine beams, with Yin Marshal forced farther back but continuing his attack in battle fury.
• The seventy-two Earthly Fiends attacked the Tai Sui Year Stars, but the fifty-nine annual Tai Sui raised their seals and drove the Earthly Fiends back.
• The Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Fiends joined forces against the Tai Sui, shattering the temporal millstone and wounding all fifty-nine Jiazi Grand Marshals.
• The Tai Sui formed a sundial from their star talismans and trapped their enemies in chaotic time, causing the Earthly Fiends’ attacks to strike their own allies.
• Heavenly Chief Star bloodied the Chief Star Brush and called on the Heavenly Dippers to use the Seven Absolutes Grand Formation of the Big Dipper Star Lords.

The Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court fought an all-out battle in the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore while Lu Chen grew suspicious that the Northern Pole had anticipated the Netherworld trap. At the Outer Heavenly Sea, True Lord Tianpeng told True Martial Great Emperor that there was no need to wait any longer.

• The Heavenly Spirits joined their power through the Heavenly Chief Star Brush and struck the sundial with seven phantom natal stars, while Great Emperor Fengdu struggled to protect the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore from the battle’s force.
• The Five Ghost Emperors warned Great Emperor Fengdu that the fighting could draw the Great Celestial Venerable’s wrath, but he chose to remain uninvolved as the courts continued clashing.
• Star Lord of Water Virtue and the Plague Lord discussed the consequences for Lu Chen, while the Plague Lord watched him and wondered whether the turmoil had gone as he wished.
• Lu Chen watched the evenly matched battle and suspected that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had expected the Evil-Quelling Court’s intervention, leaving him uneasy about their hidden plan.
• At the Outer Heavenly Sea, True Lord Tianpeng summoned a vast thunder pool and told True Martial Great Emperor, “Fourth Brother, no need to wait any longer!”

The Northern Pole Exorcism Office held back its full strength while battling the Evil-Quelling Court, waiting for a powerful arrival. Lu Chen and the Netherworld observers expected a decisive trump card, but the newcomer was Huo Luo Fire Chariot Wang Lingguan, whose appearance alarmed Wheel-Turning King.

• Yin Marshal overwhelmed Tianyou Deputy Marshal in close combat, while Marshal Yang and Black Baleful General fought to a stalemate with their battle domains.
• Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed how the battle might affect Lu Chen's plans as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches prepared their Myriad Arts Evil-Quelling Formation.
• Tianyou Deputy Marshal ordered the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches to hold back the Jiazi Grand Marshals instead of unleashing their killing move, prompting Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui to suspect the Northern Pole Exorcism Office was waiting for someone.
• Lu Chen sensed that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had kept a trump card in reserve and looked anxiously toward the Netherworld's skies.
• A golden light tore open the sky, and a golden-armored divine general carrying a thunder-wreathed whip appeared; Lu Chen recognized that he was not the True Martial Great Emperor, while Wheel-Turning King identified him as Huo Luo Fire Chariot Wang Lingguan and panicked.

Wang Lingguan descended into the Netherworld to seize the Matchmaker God and Meng Po, while Great Emperor Fengdu refused to intervene. Lu Chen stepped between Wang Lingguan and Meng Po Pavilion and challenged him, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Tianyou Vice Marshal revealed that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had anticipated the Earth Division Court’s interference, while Wang Lingguan’s arrival kept Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang occupied.
• Lu Chen learned from Wheel-Turning King that Wang Lingguan’s golden whip could destroy souls and spirits, but Great Emperor Fengdu cut off their message and declined to act.
• Wang Lingguan ordered the Matchmaker God and Meng Po to surrender, and the Matchmaker God prepared to face him until Lu Chen called for them to stay inside.
• Lu Chen confronted Wang Lingguan outside Meng Po Pavilion, drew mocking laughter from the watching gods, and declared that he refused to move.

Lu Chen challenged Wang Lingguan to land three lashes, betting that his Talismans for Sweeping Away Calamity could withstand them while he closed the distance. After blocking two increasingly powerful strikes, he prepared to face the third as the watching immortals marveled at his talismans.

• Lu Chen asked Wang Lingguan to withdraw his troops if he survived three lashes, and Wang Lingguan accepted while dismissing the bargain.
• Lu Chen used his Talismans for Sweeping Away Calamity to block Wang Lingguan’s first strike and stepped thirty feet closer.
• Lu Chen invited Wang Lingguan to deliver the second lash and covered himself with more talismans.
• Wang Lingguan struck with half his strength, but Lu Chen’s talismans again repelled the blow and sent force back along the golden whip.
• The Plague Emperor relaxed, while the Lunar Star Lord recognized Lu Chen’s gamble.

Lu Chen survived Wang Lingguan’s full-force third lash with help from an unknown clear radiance, then used the Binding Demon Rope to restrain him. The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King realized Lu Chen had used his rope.

• Lunar Star Lord suspected someone had amplified the talismans and watched as Lu Chen revealed a box containing more than a hundred of them.
• Wang Lingguan unleashed his full strength against Lu Chen, destroying most of the talismans and devastating the Bridge of Helplessness and Meng Po Pavilion.
• A mysterious clear radiance protected Lu Chen from Wang Lingguan’s attack, and Great Emperor Fengdu recognized that the hidden figure had appeared.
• Wang Lingguan was thrown back by the talismans’ counterforce and threatened Meng Po and Matchmaker God while Lu Chen vanished into the thunderfire.
• Lu Chen emerged and bound Wang Lingguan and his whip with the Binding Demon Rope.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King recognized the Binding Demon Rope and realized Lu Chen had used his.

Lu Chen captured Wang Lingguan with the Binding Demon Rope, turning the battle in the Netherworld against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office. Just as the enemy retreated and the assembled immortals prepared to celebrate, the Great Heavenly Venerable’s overwhelming presence descended.

• The immortals realized Lu Chen had used the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's Binding Demon Rope to capture Wang Lingguan, though many mistakenly believed the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had lent it to him.
• Lu Chen handed the bound Wang Lingguan to Marshal Yin, who praised him and rewarded him for helping suppress the calamity.
• With Wang Lingguan captured, Marshal Yin, Marshal Yang, and the Jiazi Grand Marshals overwhelmed Tianyou's deputy marshal and Black Baleful General.
• Marshal Yin cursed Wang Lingguan and let the Northern Pole Exorcism Office retreat, while Tianyou's deputy marshal vowed to report the marshals to the Great Heavenly Venerable.
• The Netherworld shook, the Ghost Gate Pass shattered, and violet-gold lightning filled the sky as Lu Chen recognized the Great Heavenly Venerable's arrival.

The Great Heavenly Venerable ordered Matchmaker God and Meng Po executed for violating heavenly law, and Lu Chen watched as they endured sixty-four bolts of divine lightning. They vanished in the final strike, but Lu Chen confirmed the number matched what he had been counting.

• Great Emperor Fengdu and the Netherworld gods prostrated themselves as the Great Heavenly Venerable’s decree condemned Matchmaker God and Meng Po to execution and summoned the other involved immortals for judgment.
• Boil Uncle and Sending Sister pleaded helplessly while Lu Chen watched and counted each bolt of lightning striking Matchmaker God and Meng Po.
• Matchmaker God and Meng Po endured the punishment together, and the sixty-third bolt restored their youthful appearances before they exchanged vows.
• The sixty-fourth bolt annihilated Matchmaker God and Meng Po, leaving no trace of them and causing Sending Sister to faint.
• After the sea of lightning dispersed, Lu Chen collapsed and confirmed that exactly sixty-four bolts had fallen.

Lu Chen’s plan to reunite Matchmaker God and Meng Po had depended on them dying under the final heavenly thunder and using the moment afterward to escape their immortal lives. After their deaths, Lu Chen revealed that he had won the gamble and recalled how he had persuaded Matchmaker God to accept the plan.

• Matchmaker God and Meng Po perished under heavenly punishment, and Yin Marshal led his companions back to Heaven to accept punishment.
• Lu Chen rode toward Wheel-Turning City, convinced that he had won his wager by surviving the final thunderbolt’s fleeting ownerless opportunity.
• Three days earlier, Lu Chen told Matchmaker God that his plan required him and Meng Po to die and return to mortal life through reincarnation.
• Lu Chen explained that the Supreme One had granted Matchmaker God the rank of Envoy of Netherworld Marriage to gamble on Lu Chen’s fate, but that immortal status would still prevent the lovers from remaining together.
• Lu Chen proposed that Matchmaker God and Meng Po shed their immortal identities, preserve their memories through reincarnation, and renew their bond as mortals.

Lu Chen and Matchmaker God agreed to risk a plan that would let Matchmaker God and Meng Po die, reincarnate, and continue their bond. Matchmaker God entrusted Lu Chen with his vital soul and essence, while the scheme depended on the Jade Emperor’s thunder striking them exactly sixty-four times.

• Matchmaker God agreed to give up his celestial registry and gamble on Lu Chen’s plan to reunite him with Meng Po.
• Lu Chen explained that the Tai Sui Department’s Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang would help hold off the Northern Pole Exorcism Office while he arranged for the pair to appear dead.
• Matchmaker God suggested that the Great Celestial Venerable’s punishment could provide their deaths, and described how exactly sixty-four bolts of Violet Firmament Divine Thunder could leave a remnant soul capable of reincarnation.
• Lu Chen accepted Matchmaker God’s interpretation of the plan and promised to count the thunderbolts carefully so neither too many nor too few struck them.
• Matchmaker God said Meng Po’s offices could pass to successors, then handed Lu Chen his vital soul and essence and thanked him.

Lu Chen revealed that Matchmaker God and Meng Po had survived the Great Heavenly Venerable’s apparent divine punishment as soul essences, and brought them to the Wheel-Turning King to enter reincarnation. The king sent them to be reborn into two friendly, prosperous families in Benevolence City, while Lu Chen prepared to explain how he had saved them.

• Judge Cui praised Li City God for defeating Wang Lingguan and discussed the expected punishment for Lu Chen with him.
• Lu Chen asked Judge Cui to take him to the Wheel-Turning King, who also believed Matchmaker God and Meng Po had perished.
• Lu Chen opened two jade boxes and revealed the soul essences of Matchmaker God and Meng Po.
• The Wheel-Turning King summoned a Child-Giving Granny and ordered her to send the soul essences into reincarnation in the Ma and Wang families of Benevolence City.
• The Wheel-Turning King explained that he had chosen prosperous, unrestrictive families for the pair, then showed Lu Chen and Judge Cui the arrangements through a Mystic Mirror.

Lu Chen revealed that Valiant General had predicted the Great Celestial Venerable’s sixty-four thunderbolts and arranged for Matchmaker God and Meng Po to reincarnate without karmic ties. The Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui concluded that Lu Chen was the Great Celestial Venerable’s incarnation, while Lu Chen wondered what the supreme ruler was plotting through him.

• Lu Chen showed the Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui that Matchmaker God and Meng Po’s soul essences had entered reincarnation as unusually clean blank slates.
• Lu Chen explained that Valiant General had instructed him to count the thunderbolts and seek the Wheel-Turning King if exactly sixty-four fell.
• The Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui realized that Valiant General had anticipated the thunder punishment and believed the apparent deaths were part of a planned deception.
• The Wheel-Turning King declared that Lu Chen was likely the Great Celestial Venerable’s incarnation and rejoiced that he had not made an enemy of him.
• Lu Chen concluded that the Great Celestial Venerable had secretly supported his successes and questioned why the sovereign had built a scheme around him.

Lu Chen learned that the Wheel-Turning King planned to seek Clerk Lu’s help with a future matter, then watched Meng Po and the Matchmaker God begin new lives in neighboring families. After returning to Cloudtop Manor, Lu Chen found Xiao Qing and Xiao Ru immobilized and came face-to-face with the unexpected Venus Star.

• The Wheel-Turning King told Lu Chen that he wished to befriend General Weiwu because he hoped to ask Clerk Lu for help with a future, still-secret matter, and gave Lu an eighth-grade heavenly treasure.
• The Wheel-Turning King showed Lu that Meng Po and the Matchmaker God’s soul essences had entered the Ma and Wang family’s unborn children, and the three offered blessings to the infants.
• Lu Chen left the Netherworld for Jiangdu, while the Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui agreed that Lu’s strength meant they no longer needed to fear acting as they pleased.
• Lu Chen returned to Cloudtop Manor and found Xiao Qing and Xiao Ru frozen and seemingly lifeless beside his physical body.
• Venus Star appeared in the living room and told Lu Chen he had been waiting for him.